Box-fastener



No. 6|4,955. Patented Nov. 29, 1898. G. L.-JUCELYN.

BOX FASTENER.

(Application filed Mar- 12, 1898.)

(No Model.)

mum

NITED STATES GEORGE L. JOCELYN, OF

BOX-FAS HANNIBAL, MISSOURI.

TENER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 614,955, dated November 29, 1898.

Application filed March 1 2, 18 9 8.

To 11/! whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, GEORGE L. J OCELYN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Hannibal, in the county of Marion and State of Missouri, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Box-Fasteners, of which the following is a specification.

The invention relates to improvements in box-fasteners.

The object of the present invention is to improve the construction of box-fasteners and to provide a simple, inexpensive, and efficient device adapted to enable a lid or cover to be readily placed on and removed from the body of a box or analogous receptacle and capable of automatically locking such lid or cover when the same is placed in position on the said body.

The invention consists in the construction and novel combination and arrangement of parts, as hereinafter fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and pointed out in the claim hereto appended.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of a shipping-crate provided with a fastener constructed in accordance with this invention. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the same, the parts being locked. Fig. 3 is a similar view, the joint of the lid or cover being broken. Fig. 4 is a transverse sectional view. Fig. 5 is a detail perspective view of the spring-catch. Fig. 6 is a similar view of the keeper-plate.

Like numerals of reference designate corresponding parts in all the figures of the drawings.

1 designates a box or crate provided atthe inner faces of its sides 2, near the upper edges thereof, with horizontal supporting-bars 3, adapted to receive a lid or cover 4, which is composed of sections connected at their inner adjacent edges by hinges 5 and adapted to engage grooves or channels 6 of the ends 7 of the box or crate. The box or crate, which is designed for shipping bottles, may be constructed in any suitable manner, and when the sections of the lid or cover are arranged horizontally upon the supporting-bars 3 the outer ends of the sections project into the grooves or channels 6.

The hinges 5 are located on the lower faces of the sections of the lid or cover, and the Serial No. 673,594. (No odem latter is adapted to break centrally, as indicated in Fig. 3 of the accompanying drawings, to withdraw the outer ends of the sections from the grooves or channels 6 and to permit the cover to be readily removed from the body of the box or crate. The sections of the lid or cover are strengthened by transverse cleats 7, secured to the lower faces of the sections, and the latter are retained in alinement and held rigid with each other by a locking-bar 8, secured to the upper face of one of the sections and projecting over the other and detachably secured to the same by a spring-catch 9. The spring-catch 9, which engages the locking-bar 8, holds the same against the upper face of the section upon which the catch is mounted and prevents the said bar from leaving the same, thereby retaining the lid or cover securely on the body of the box or crate.

The lid or cover is provided with a slot 10 to receive one arm of the catch, which is substantially L-shaped, and the outer end of the locking-bar is provided with a corresponding slot 11, adapted to register with the slot 10. The L-shaped catch has its longer arm secured at the outer end by screws 12 to the inner face of the adjacent cleat 7 and its inner arm, which projects through the slots 10 and 11, is provided at its upper end with a beveled head 13, adapted to engage the upper face of the locking-bar. In closing the lid or cover down upon the box or crate the upper face of the head of the catch is adapted to engage the lower face of the locking-bar, which is correspondingly beveled at the outer end of the slot 11, and the locking action is automatic, the locking-bar being adapted to depress or force the engaging portion or head of the catch inward or rearward and past the same.

A plate or keeper 14 is secured to the upper face of the locking-bar at the outer end of the slot 11 in position to be engaged by the catch, and it is provided at one side of the slot with a flange 14, having a perforation 15, substantially registering with a perforation 16 of the catch, and the perforations of the two parts are adapted to receive the wire of a seal, whereby the box or crate is securely fastened and is prevented from being opened without destroying the seal.

The invention has the following advantages: The cover or lid, which is applicable to all kinds of boxes, shipping-crates, and the like, is adapted to be quickly placed on and removed from a box or crate, which may be used continuously without repair, as the body or the cover is not injured by the removal of the latter or its attachment to a box or crate. The fastening device is adapted to receive the wire of an ordinary seal, which must be destroyed in order to obtain access to the contents of the receptacle. The cover or lid is supported upon the horizontal bars of the body of the box or crate, and the transverse cleats 7, which terminate short of the side edges of the lid or cover, fit between the horizontal bars and operate to brace the receptacle.

Changes in the form, proportion, and minor details of construction may be resorted to without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of this invention.

\Vhat- I claim is In a device of the class described, the combination of a lid or cover composed of two sections hinged together at their inner ends, one of the sections being provided with a slot, a locking-bar secured to the other section and overlapping the slotted section and provided with a slot registering with the said slot, and a catch mounted on the slotted section and projecting through the slot thereof and arranged to extend through the slot of the locking-bar and automatically engage the same, whereby the cover is automatically locked when placed in position, substantially as described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I'have hereto affixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

GEORGE L. J'OCELYN.

W'itnesses:

E. FOWKES, 0. M. SrEERs. 

